NSW fires

Meanwhile, firefighters say they will use the cooler conditions forecast this week to gain control of a big bushfire near Coonabarabran, in north-western New South Wales.

The fire has burnt more than 50,000 hectares and destroyed 53 homes.

Several millimetres of rain fell on the weekend which helped to reduce the severity of the fire in some spots, but also hindered back-burning operations.

Rural Fire Service deputy incident controller Rob Smith says crews will continue to mop up the fire today in a bid to keep it behind containment lines.

"A large part of the fire edge has been contained but we still do have active fire in a couple parts, particularly down south-west," he said.

"We're currently working on some additional containment lines down in that part of the fire and also some back-burning to tie it in with the current fire front, so that's what we'll be aiming to do over the next day or two."